93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
(AP) – St. Louis has reason to celebrate for the next few days after the Blues won the Stanley Cup for the first time since becoming an NHL franchise in 1967.
Jordan Binnington stopped 32 shots and the Blues took Game 7 of the final by defeating the Bruins, 4-1 in Boston. Binnington made a host of outstanding saves, including a sprawling stop against Joakim Nordstrom near the crease with St. Louis leading 2-0 midway through the third period.
Ryan O’Reilly put the Blues ahead 16:47 into the first period on an assist from Alex Pietrangelo (peh-TRAN’-jeh-loh), who doubled the lead with less than eight seconds left in the opening period. O’Reilly led the Blues with 23 points in the postseason and received the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP. He was the first player since Wayne Gretzky in 1985 to score in four straight Stanley Cup final games.
St. Louis blew it open with goals by Brayden Schenn and Zach Sanford about four minutes apart in the second half of the third period.
Binnington’s shutout bid ended when Matt Grzelcyk (GRIHZ’-lihk) tallied with 2:10 remaining, but Blues fans still had reason to play their new celebration song – Laura Branigan’s “Gloria” – following the game.
The Cup title caps a tremendous comeback to what began as a very disappointing season for St. Louis. The Blues fired head coach Mike Yeo (yoh) after 19 games and owned the league’s worst point total the morning of Jan. 3 before coming within one point of capturing the Central Division title. St. Louis had never won a Stanley Cup final contest until Game 2 of this series, dropping 13 in a row.
The Bruins lost their last three home games to fall short in their bid for a seventh Stanley Cup and first since 2011.
